Harrington Retires from Andes Central After 30 Years After 30 years of working for the Andes Central School District, Beth Harrington has decided to retire. Beth was a 5th grade teacher.

Overall, Beth has been a teacher for 35 years. She received her Bachelor’s Degree from Calvin University in Grand Rapids, MI and her Master’s Degree from South Dakota State University. Throughout the years she has taught 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th-8th grade math and 5th and 6th grade combination. Teaching middle schoolers has been what Beth has enjoyed over the course of her career. With middle schoolers every day is different. Middle schoolers go through a lot of changes with their personalities, moods, etc. With that being said as a teacher, one never quite knows what personality or mood they will get any given day.

Beth’s teaching philosophy has always been to get to know the students in her classroom and work to build a relationship with them. As a teacher, Beth feels that it was her job to help each student grow academically, socially and emotionally throughout the school year. One of the best parts of being a teacher is being able to see the growth that students make during the school year.

One of the most challenging aspects of being a teacher is that the students have not changed, but the environment that they are being raised in has. These environmental changes have brought a lot of challenges into education. Setting boundaries for children at a young age, reading to them, getting them outside to play, limiting time on electronics and teaching them manners and respect are just a few things that would help reduce challenges in the classroom.

Beth will miss her students, but with the amount of time spent on weekly testing, state mandated paperwork such as pacing calendars, curriculum maps, etc. and increase of behaviors from the students, she decided that it was time to retire. Even though Beth will have officially retired from teaching this 2023-2024 school year, she will still be a part of the Andes Central School District for a bit longer. For the 2024-2025 school year, Beth will be coaching cross-country and track for a final year.

Beth does not have any official plans now that she has retired, but anyone who knows her knows that she is not the type of person that can just sit and do nothing. She will be looking for something part-time that will help fill her time. Traveling will be a part of her retirement. Beth has a couple of trips already planned. She hopes to be able to spend more time and travel with her siblings and her three grown children.

Congratulations Beth on your well-deserved retirement. Thank you for your time and dedication to the Andes Central students.